tokens of frequent consultation. I had lapsed
into meditation, and thence into a state of
dreamy semi-consciousness, when my attention
was attracted by a movement of the door, of
which, from my position, I commanded a view.
I saw it, through my half-closed eyes, open
slowly and noiselessly, and next moment a
female figure entered the room.

"It was not a very alarming apparition, being
nothing more than an extremely pretty woman
of about twenty-five, with light brown hair,
gracefully arranged under a bonnet of the
ordinary fashion of the day. Her features were
perfectly strange to me. They were regular,
and she would have been altogether a very
attractive person but for the circumstance that
her eyes had a strange unearthly expression—a
look as of one who had gazed on things immortal
—perhaps, to speak more familiarly, a look
such as medical science has described as appearing
in the eyes of criminals who have been, by
some strange accident, torn from the jaws of
death after the hangman had, to all appearance,
faithfully performed his ghastly office. I myself
have seen some similar expression in the faces
of men who have endured awful peril, and have
been, by some unforeseen circumstance, rescued
from destruction when the real bitterness of
death had passed.

"So much was I fascinated by that peculiar
glance, that I sat, like one entranced, without
power of movement, my heart alone reminding
me, by its accelerated beat, that I lived, and was
cognisant of what was presented to my eyes.

"My mysterious visitor advanced to the
table, without taking the least notice of me,
and, removing her bonnet with the easy natural
manner of one coming home from a walk, laid
it on the table. She then took from her pocket a
little book bound in crimson velvet, and, drawing
a chair to the fire, seemed to become absorbed in
its perusal. In sitting down, she turned her side
to me; and a gleam from the dying fire suddenly
revealed to me a ghastly gaping wound in the
right temple, such as might have been caused by
a fall against some sharp and hard substance.

"It was now that the conviction rushed
upon me that my silent visitor was not of this
world; yet I do not remember that I experienced
any feeling akin to consternation. Curiosity
and interest, at all events, were predominant;
and I watched her every movement with almost
breathless attention.

"After I know not what time—probably
some ten minutes—passed in this manner, the
girl seemed to become restless and uneasy. She
glanced from her book to the door—to the
window—to the mantel-shelf (as though a clock
stood there)—tried to resettle to her book, but
apparently failed; and, at length, laying it down,
murmured to herself: 'What in the world can
detain him? It is long past his time.'

"She remained, as it were, buried in thought
for a few moments; then, with an audible sigh,
resumed her reading. It did not answer,
however. It was manifest that she could not
control some anxious thought; and now, as if I
taking a sudden resolution, she replaced the
volume in her pocket, rose, put on her bonnet,
and moved towards the door. Suddenly she
paused, turned, approached the window, and,
seeming to raise it, gazed steadfastly oat.

"The next moment, she gave a violent start,
and appeared to gasp for breath, her clasped
hands and straining eyeballs indicating that
some terrible object was presented to her view.
Then, with one loud, heart-broken cry, she
threw her arms wildly above her head, and cast
herself from the window!

"That cry seemed to arouse me from my
trance-like condition. I was on my feet in a
second, and rushed to the window. Had my
senses deceived me? No doubt; for it was
barely open—as I had left it. I flung up the
sash, and leaned forth. In the street all was as
usual. The stream of human life passed
uninterruptedly on. A collected policeman glanced
stolidly up at my opening window, and
sauntered by. Two men were calmly smoking at a
window fronting mine. It was plain they had
heard or seen nothing amiss. Much marvelling,
I returned to my chair and book; but little
enough of the law of evidence found its way,
that evening, into my disturbed brain.

"The next day I took an opportunity of
speaking confidentially to my landlady. Had
anything of an unusual nature been seen in
that house before? The worthy woman
hesitated. Why did I ask that? I told her all;
and, moved by a sudden impulse, inquired if
any calamity had occurred in those apartments
which might, to some minds, account for the
strange appearance I had witnessed.

"With a little pressing, the woman informed
me that, just a year before, a tragical incident
had occurred there. A young couple had
occupied the rooms on the third floor. The lady
was very pretty, with light brown hair, and was
tenderly attached to her young mate, who was
a clerk in some one of the large city offices.

"One day she returned from her walk as
usual, and, fearing she was late, ran hastily up,
half expecting to find her husband awaiting her.
He had not arrived, however; and, having
thrown aside her bonnet, and set the room in
order, she sat down beside the fire, and strove
to forget her impatience in the perusal of a book
which George had that day presented to her.
Dinner-time came, and tea-time, but no George.
Dreading she knew not what, the poor girl at
last ran to the window, determined to keep
watch until he arrived. For some time she had
been noticed leaning motionless over the
window-sill. But a new object attracted the attention
of those who watched her. A stretcher
was borne up the street, upon which lay a
crushed, distorted corpse. It was the young
husband. He had fallen from a steamer's deck,
and been crushed and drowned between the
boat and pier. As they halted at the door which
he had quitted in health and mirth that morning,
a piercing shriek alarmed the whole street.
The young widow had flung herself from the
window. Her head struck the kerb-stone. She
was killed on the spot."

A ghostly appearance, under similar condition